Paul again talks about slavery to the Law, this time literally discussing circumcision. It's no minor thing, but it's also a clear indication that the letter of the Law is what guides its followers, not the freedom of Christ.

Paul, attempting to show the difference between the old and new testament covenants, now pulls the story of Abraham out to serve his purpose. The Jewish people took pride in being the children of the woman who wasn't the slave, but Paul says they are still slave-born if they are binding themselves to the old system of law.

Having established the tension that exists between the old and new way of doing things, Paul now talks about what that difference is: the ability of the Law to establish our separation from God, versus God's mending of that separation by way of Jesus. To live under the old rule is to remember how far we have fallen, but to follow Jesus is to come back.

For anyone who might think that the early church was all smiles and high fives, this passage certainly shows the tension of trying to create this new outpost of the Kingdom of Jesus on earth. Paul calls Peter out for his hypocrisy, pointing out the unequal treatment he has given to Jews and Gentiles. Trying to bring a new expression of faith out of Judaism without making it a copy of the original was not small task!

In Jewish tradition, a baby boy was named and circumcised eight days after his birth. This is one more reminder that Jesus was part of the same human rituals and traditions as other Jewish children, and that he was set on a human path. He did not exist outside our world, but he came to live and breath inside of it. This is the God we serve, who knows us so well.

The final chapter of Revelation is full of invitations: from Jesus himself, to enter the Kingdom. And from those in the Kingdom, an invitation for his return. There has been judgement and wrath, but the ending is still focused on the joy set before us.

You have to hand it to God: he makes some really incredible stuff. The city he shows to John is unmatchable by human efforts, made of enture jewels. Not a bad place to spend eternity, huh?

The work of God to make things whole and new again finds completion in the closing chapters of Revelation. A more complete and whole world is what God put into the minds of the prophets, and the reminder of John to keep at his work finds its purpose as the new Heaven and new earth begin to unfold.

Today we remember the slaughter of innocents ordered by Herod following the birth of Jesus. We also remember that God does not overlook such things, and that the care of the helpless is very much something that Jesus was attentive to. If we have seen Jesus, we have seen God, and we can trust our judge and Savior to set things right.

John seems somewhat special among the disciples, having received the Revelation and also holding the distinction of being the last of the disciples to die. While outliving your peers comes with its share of sorrow, we might be reminded that the beginning of Revelation was a reminder of the need for the prophetic voice, something John certainly had and which God needed him to keep exercising.